Medical training for Rossville teachers

Elizabeth Westfall of the Indiana Department of Homeland Security demonstrates how to apply a tourniquet at an emergency preparedness course at Rossville Consolidated School Corp. on Jan. 4, 2016 in Rossville.(Photo: Jeremy Ervin / Journal & Courier)

ROSSVILLE, Ind. — Teachers and school staff gathered at Rossville Consolidated School District on Wednesday for emergency preparedness training sessions.

The school opened its doors to host classes on bleeding control, defibrillator use and detection of mental health issues in students.

The school nurse's office taught defibrillator use, and Elizabeth Westfall from the Indiana Department of Homeland Security led training on bleeding control.

"We talk about at the very beginning: it's not if, it's more when anymore," Westfall said. "When you look at things like the Newtown shooting with Sandy Hook: nobody knew what Sandy Hook was before, but now everybody knows because of the event that happened there."

Westfall begins with a lecture, then moves on to practical instruction. She taught how to apply a tourniquet to themselves, then to others. The course also touched on wound packing techniques, which are needed in areas like the neck, groin, armpits and other places tourniquets can't work.

"It's important that they not just hear about it, but they actually do it as well," Westfall said.

Bleeding control kits have been placed throughout the school in classrooms and in the hallways, so teachers and staff will have access if needed.

"This is just another part of our training that maybe we never thought we would have to use, but we have it in our arsenal now," fourth-grade teacher Amy Goris said.

Some members of the Rossville Volunteer Ambulance Service also attended, Rossville superintendent James Hanna said.

In another part of the school, teachers and staff learned how to detect mental health issues in students. As part of the course, Lisa Dixon of mental health treatment provider Oaklawn taught teachers and staff to distinguish normal changes in adolescent behavior from mental health warning signs.

For example, a teen withdrawing from family to spend more time with friends is normal. A teen withdrawing from all their family, friends and favorite activities may be a warning sign.

Teachers and staff like middle/high school principal Michael Gick are always on the lookout for tells like this. A struggling student may start missing school, Gick said. Once they miss too much class, more tangible life pressures like poor grades and disciplinary action can trap them in a bad cycle.

"At the middle/high school level, a lot of students come into the office and they're talking about anxieties or pressures: 'I just don't feel like I can get through this,' or 'I can't come to school anymore,' or 'I don't see the light,'" Gick said. "For me that's a big sign: when I start seeing the same student over and over and they're saying the same thing. We obviously need to intervene and attempt to break that cycle."

Elementary principal Chad Dennison and second-grade teacher Michele Houser both said they've seen more younger students struggling with mental health issues than in the past.

"The biggest thing that's been eye opening for me the past few years — it's not who you think," Gick said. "It can be somebody that completely catches you off guard and that was the biggest drive to having this training because we are not able to identity effectively who is struggling."

Contact J&C city and county government reporter Jeremy Ervin at 765-420-5393. Follow him on Twitter @ErvinJeremy.